How Freyna Told It
This is the way that Freyna explained it: she said people aren't the only people what can make deals. She said the flowers make a bargain with the bee, that they will take their seed along in exchange for a bright caress. She said Old Jantzy under the ground makes a deal with all worms that they'll bring him his dinner and he will learn them how to grow and split and live forever. And she says that trees and brooks and stones and stars and fair young maidens been making deals since before old Teronovious was a lusty thought in his Mama's head. And then she told it like so: Making deals is dangerous. Many is the fair young lass wed to an ugly son of a bitch what she once thought was a prince, and don't think there aren't more'n a few worms that remember more than they'd like. But that's the funny thing about deals, the danger is they last forever. That, according to how Freyna said it, is also the opportunity. You just gotta figure out the rules. The terms, as the Academy boys would have it. But really, they are just rules. If you keep a bargain, even a bargain you didn't make, you can get something out of it, too. --- Teronovious rarely dreamed anymore. In fact after he named Azitiel, he wasn't sure that he'd ever dreamed. Once in a while, when he thought about the naming night, it occurred to him that maybe he'd drifted off to sleep and in the morning he'd wake up and be a young, angry but promising professor who was out of a job again. But tonight he dreamed. He dreamed of a girl with brown hair, and soft blue eyes that flashed green in the sun. She laughed and walked him through a forest. She touched every tree, just so, and counted to herself, and never looked at him for more than a second. "I love you," he found himself saying, and he suddenly realized he'd never said it to anyone, not in his whole life. Not to his mother, his brother. Not any of the young, handsome enforcers he'd taken to his bed. And until now he'd never felt the lack of it. And he knew to his bones that he'd missed something important. Not for the first time, and not for the last time, he wondered if he'd given up more than he realized to Azitiel. More than Azitiel realized, perhaps. And suddenly he was desperately aware of how much he wanted her to say it back. He didn't say anything, but he could tell she knew, because she turned back to him, and he thought she looked as if she might cry. "I can't," she said. "There are terms." And she put her arms around him, but he woke unsatisfied. --- The stories started in the next couple weeks. The Enforcers did not report it to him, in fact, most of them seem convinced that it was a secret initiative of his or the King's, or else a test, and they were determined to pass it. But anyone in the know in Sartellia was buzzing about it. There were magic users out near the plains of Gideon, and the Enforcers could not directly monitor their activities. And then, some people, traveling nobles or entertainers, started coming in who'd seen them. They told of the strange older sister, white-haired and plain-spoken, but who trembled and shook so strangely, and tapped out rhythms, and cried at strange moments, and who had rules, so many rules for so many occasions. Who spent all day howling at her dogs on every third new moon. Whose prophecies always came true, who healed the sick and punished the false. And who forbade her younger sister, a brown-haired beauty with blue eyes that sometimes flashed green, from ever taking a suitor. Teronovious recognized her description immediately. He was frightened, but he could not explain why. Besides, he had no one to tell anymore. He tried to broach the subject with the King, but Azitiel was barely even speaking at this point. Liam and Will were long gone. And to tell his inferiors of his worries was preposterous. Impossible. Better that they believe it was a test. And then he had the dream again. --- This time they met in a vast white space. There was a chair, and Teronovious sat down in it, but she looked irritated and he rose to allow her to sit. "I love you," he said gently as she leaned back. "But will you love him?" she asked, and he knew in a instant. --- The next day he ordered the older sister, Freyna, killed, and the younger captured and brought to him. Two days later, word returned of the death of all seven of the elite team of enforcers he had sent. A mysterious illness struck them all down, within an hour of reaching Gideon. He ran immediately to Azitiel, who seemed delighted by the news. "Another bargain!" Teronovious began to plead, but Azitiel only smiled and shook his head. What left was there to be gained from Teronovious? And then his spies reported that the sisters had left their home in Gideon. According to their sources, they had first burned their cottage along with all their belongings. The next morning they had begun to walk towards the City. They would be here within the month. His spies also reported something stranger still. Shae, the virgin sister, was seen carrying an infant in her arms on the road. A boy, they said.